Cables - Connect different devices to each other, allowing data to be transmitted over them

Commonly used cable types

• copper
• fiber

copper wire uses electrical signals to represent 1s and 0s which gets interpreted on the receiving end.

The most common forms of copper twisted-pair cables used in networking are Cat5, Cat5e, and Cat6 cables.

Cat5e mostly replaced Cat5 cables because they reduce Crosstalk.

Crosstalk: When an electrical pulse on one wire is accidentally detected on another wire.

Cat6 cables have higher speeds and even more reliable than cat5e but has shorter physical distance when used at maximum speed.

Fiber cables: Contains individual optical fibers, which are tiny tubes made out of glass about the width of a human hair.

Fiber cable uses pulses of light to represent 0s and 1s. Has lower impact on electro magnetic interference since it uses light. It is much more expensive and fragile compare to copper cables. Can send data in much longer distance.